New Talent Joins Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants

Growing Marin County Hospitality Company Announces the Appointment of Four Senior Level Executives

(Larkspur, CA) – May XX, 2008 – Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants, the rapidly growing company headquartered in Larkspur, California, just north of San Francisco, is proud to announce the appointment of Nathan Tanner, Vice President Restaurants; Richard Flores, Vice President of Marketing; Rachel Hawkins, Vice President of Human Resources and Lisa Soutter, Regional Director of Sales.

Vice President of Restaurants, Nathan Tanner
Nathan Tanner brings over 16 years of restaurant, resort and hotel food and beverage experience to Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants.  Tanner first began his career as a dishwasher and continued his growth in the restaurant industry while working with small independent restaurants, first-class resorts, and large hotels.  Some of these include Paragon Restaurants, Levy Restaurants and eventually, Hilton Hotels.  Most recently, Tanner served as Senior Director of Restaurant Development for Hilton Hotels Corporation, where he was charged with developing branded concepts, strategic partnerships and oversight of restaurant operations for the company.  At Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants, Tanner will guide the company’s growing restaurant division, which includes operations, design, development and culinary teams, in turn, creating an independent restaurant group to compliment its hotels and establishing the foundation for a world-class restaurant organization.

Vice President of Marketing, Richard Flores
With proven experience in global sales and marketing, hotel brand development and communications ,Richard Flores joins Larkspur Hotels & Restaurant as Vice President of Marketing.  Before joining Larkspur, Flores spent 6 years as Director of Marketing for the U.S. and Latin division of Sol Melia Hotels & Resorts.  While with Sol Melia, Flores was responsible for developing brand concepts, which included the ME by Melia hotel brand, marketing strategies for the division and managing the brand’s marketing department.  As the Vice President of Marketing, Flores will strive to position Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants as a premier hospitality company, along with the restructuring, development and repositioning of Larkspur’s brands.   Further, Flores will also direct and manage all Marketing, Ecommerce, Public Relations and CRM initiatives and strategies for the company. 

Vice President of Human Resources, Rachel Hawkins
Vice President of Human Resources, Rachel Hawkins, re-joins Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, where she served as the Director of Human Resources for the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco for the past 5 years. While at the Mandarin Oriental, Hawkins was a leader in analyzing employment practices for all of the Group’s U.S. hotels and in employee recruitment and retention, she also played a key role in implementing initiatives to maintain the Group’s outstanding five-star service standards. Preparing her even further for her role at Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants, Hawkins also served as the Director of Training and Development and later the Assistant Director of Human Resources, at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, as well as the Vice President of People Resources for Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants.  As the Vice President of Human Resources for Larkspur, Hawkins will lead the overall direction and strategy for the Human Resources department, to include implementing initiatives to enhance the service experience at all Larkspur Collection hotels and programs to support employee learning and development within the company. 

Regional Director of Sales for the Larkspur Collection, Lisa Soutter
With over 20 years in sales and marketing, Lisa Soutter joins Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants as the Regional Director of Sales for the Larkspur Collection, the company’s emerging premium hotel brand. Soutter’s initial experience working in sales and marketing was with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, before she assumed the role of Sales Director for Clint Eastwood’s intimate Mission Ranch in Carmel, California. Following Mission Ranch, Soutter served as the Director of Sales & Marketing at Quail Lodge Resort and Golf Club in Carmel and later held the same position at the Stanford Park Hotel in Menlo Park, California. While at the Stanford Park Hotel, Soutter was responsible for all group sales and vendor contacts, maintained sales and brand awareness throughout the property and developed advertising programs for the hotel. Most recently she was the General Manager for Equity Office Properties in San Jose, California. While at Equity, Soutter developed strategic relationships with key customers and assisted senior executives in the development of customer outreach and retention programs.

About Larkspur Hotels and Restaurants
Established in 1996, Larkspur Hotel & Restaurants is a rapidly growing company headquartered in Larkspur, California, just north of San Francisco.  Larkspur boasts a portfolio of 23 hotels, including three distinct hotel brands: Larkspur Landing, Larkspur Hotels and The Larkspur Collection along with six excitingdestination restaurants.  All Larkspur hotels offer the signature FeatherBorne bed package, upgraded amenities, high-tech efficiencies and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Each Larkspur restaurant is designed to blend into its local setting, deliver creative culinary concepts, innovative design and exceptional culinary techniques. Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants is driven by its belief and commitment to Genuine Hospitality - delivering warm, friendly and personalized experiences to its guests.

The Larkspur Landing brand provides extended stay accommodations with a host of complimentary services and conveniences designed with today’s business traveler in mind.  Larkspur Hotels is a three-star brand which breaks the mold of large chain-hotels by offering charm and personality, while delivering great value, comfort and excellent service.  The Larkspur Collection is a premium collection of hotels, each of which offers its own unique, individual experience, complementing the local flavor of the surrounding area.  The Larkspur Collection focuses on delivering a sensorial guest experience, upscale amenities and exceptional service.

The company’s most recent addition is SANO Spa at the Casa Munras hotel in Monterey, California, which is scheduled to open June 2008.  For more information, please visit www.larkspurhotels.com.

For more information please contact:
Jeff Rubenstein
Larkspur Hotels and Restaurants
415 945-5037
jrubenstein@larkspurhotels.com